Derby by Guerlain

To me its a VERY potent leather/carnation scent. A chypre to my nose. Its not one for the summer to be honest!

It's lovely, but to me it's more of a woman's scent. I get the mental picture of Diana Vreeland wearing it- the carnations are kind of heady. Just my opinion. I'd test first.

I love it! Its a very refined leathery chypre with a fantastic and sublime mint note in the top- an middlenotes. Its far far beyond the current fragrance trends and made for the real connoisseur and if I ever make it to Paris I will get a bottle at the Guerlain flagship store. Its definitely at least worth owning a mini or a decant. Actually I ve got a decant from Gerald....Its for special occasions though and I wouldnt wear it on a regular basis......From time to time I wear it at home just to savour its beauty......

Christian

I might be the only dissenter here. I don't think it is anything special or extraordinary. It is worth to have a decant but it would be kinda overboard to get a bottle at these prices. (Unless of course you're extremely rich or you love it after finishing up a decant). If something is discontinued, more often than not, there is a good reason.

Derby is the epitome of French elegance. Detailed, distinct yet subtle, timeless and perfectly balanced. Caron's 3rd Man is another fine example of classic French fragrance artistry. Get it now.

Would anyone compare Derby to Carnation by Comme de Garcons?

I got mine off eBay USA for $20 (100ml Tester with lid) Few years back now mind you.

I remember someone mentioning that you have a secret stash full of bottles of Derby. Is there a truth to it?

Secret stash! lol, Just the one!

There is no good reason why a lot of stuff is discontinued. Look at all the new crappy fragrances coming out. There is no way these are better than a lot of the discontinued classics. Unfortunately most of the public doesn't have the same taste in perfumes as us so Acqua di Gio rules.

Well, you should know - there`s a new relaunch of Derby Guerlain in their Parisienne serie. It goes in the very same rectangular bottle with `golden` facet.
I found the new as very big difference from the discontinued.
New one is bright-zesty-half-potent against the older disc. version - like now it`s not The Good Old Derby For Blood and Death (when I`m wearing old Derby, it reminds me AllBlacks` Hakka dance), but friendly International game - MUnited vs Thailand or Japanese team, which is made only to make some millions.

I speak for myself and according to my tastes. BTW I like AdG.

It took me great time, energy, and cash to track samples of Derby, Versailles pH, Balenciaga pH, Beverly Hills Red, Balenciaga Portos etc.. and the result was disappointment in all of these cases.

Well perhaps you've just summed it up : I for one worship Derby (although I very much agree the new version does not compete in any respect with the former one, while the price is simply a mockery) and regard it as the best creation in male perfumery ever (which might account for what tmp00 pinpointed, i.e. that it might appear feminine at first because it is so sophisticated.) Having said that, I have a certain taste in heavy, rich and potent fragrances, and I perfectly understand and agree that someone with a different fragrance culture altogether might just find the whole fuss around Derby overrated.

Yet, WAOW ! :-)

Now, about the Guerlain policy... Well I suppose everything has already been said here, that of course this re-release has nothing to do with an in-house concern for older beauties but for a superb opportunity to track back the amateurs who had lost interest and hope in Guerlain over the last few years and bring them back to the "mothership" (same with the very recent re-launch of Chamade pour Homme.) I would be OK with the whole thing if Guerlain had the least of courtesy towards their customers by not changing the formula on the way, and if they had a price policy that was not so outrageous (when I first smelled Derby 15 years ago it priced the same as Habit Rouge and Vetiver, with a quality that had nothing to do with what it is now...) But anyway...

have you seen the prices on eBay now???

If I may ask - why did you not like Versailles? I'm interested because, while I like some of the classic chypres alot, others disappointed me - Portos among them, as well as Léonard ph and Yatagan. I love Patou ph, though, as well as Punjab, Sander Man Pure, Trussardi. Seems to me I need some florals or sweetness in them, especially cinnamon, to make them work, while too much herbal or leathery aridity doesn't work for me. And where would Derby be in that respect, to come back on topic?

US$399.99 for 100ml

The Vintage Edition is to die for IMHO. If there is a masculine (I find it masculine as L'Homme Sage) counterpart to Caron's Tabac Blond, it has to be Guerlain's Derby. And I can see it as a perfect signature scent, very versatile.

For the record, I had a decant of the new version.



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I guess I never said that I didn't like Versailles pH. I just didn't care for it. I was blown away when I first smelled Musc Ravagaeur, A*Men, Chene, or Black Aoud. I was expecting a similar effect because of all the hype. Well I was wrong!

In Derby, there's a note which is sharp, sour, and acrid which completely ruins the scent for me. (again the new version). I smell the same thing in BdP as well which makes the scent unwearable to me.

Thank you, phantagarow! Having gone through phases of following/avoiding BN hypes myself, I have fallen into similar traps (who has not?). I never did find Versailles, but bought a few others blind, and Guerlain has always been a safe bet for me. I consider myself particularly lucky having discovered Derby. I love carnation and was not even aware I would end up owning not simply another (floral) leather, as it is sometimes classified, but a Mitsouko for men. I consider Derby a darker, somewhat brooding cousin of Equipage, another favorite of mine (ironically called a spicy fougère).

To be fair to Derby, Yatagan and similar fragrances we must consider the period they were created for, and abstract from our own, more recent, experiences with CommedG, Villoresi, Malle, Montale, etc.. I think that Musk Ravageur, Piper Nigrum, or les Arabes have turned the page of fragrance history, while some new Dior, Shiseido, and Armani exclusives lifted traditional standards even higher.

And BTW: I also like Acqua di Gio, and consider it a perfect, easy cologne. The familiar, often contemptuous remarks about AdG seem to mainly say: ‘look, I am a grown up man, and left my egg shells long behind! ’ It’s Armani’s great luck, not his fault, that this cologne became so über - 'in’ with American student generations. Simply based on the figures, and when nobody really remembers it any more, AdG will be looked at with sentimentality as one of the greatest ever, just wait for 2095

I can just say: GET DERBY! It's stunning! Impossible to describe - dirty, wild, extraordinary, leathery. Yummi!

So - I'm wearing Derby today. First time from a sample - thanks Paul (scentsibility).

I love it! Unbelieveable stuff.

I am not sure if this sample I scored is a vintage or the new formulation, but I have a feeling (after reading the comments) that its the new formulation, but I may be wrong.

First of all, I had no idea that Guerlain only really has one leather mens scent - that's kind of neat. Also, I found the mint note in Derby highlights the leather and other supporting notes beautifully. Mint and I are friends - but here it's really dressed up pretty isn't it? The complexity at the middle notes was quite head spinning - and really my only comparison would be Heritage EdP. The Guerlainade vanilla peeked his head here and there, but ultimately the more dominant feeling I got from this was dark, serious, animalic and classy.

Interesing coincidence that this reminds me of Tom Ford for Men Extreme (which is out in stores just now) - of course I am sure they smell much different side-by-side, but the 'vibe' is similar for both scents. In addition, Derby is so friggin hard to source...if I put my mind to working out getting a full bottle from the Guerlain boutique in Paris (if its still available) I'm not sure what it would cost in the exchange to US dollars, plus shipping, etc. Please guys - don't take my comparisons to TFFME personally as an attack on Derby. I am NOT saying they smell alike. I am using my comparison as a compliment. Let me put it this way...if I had a way to smell and own Derby vintage formulation a few months ago - and then afterwards I had smelled TFFME, perhaps I would not have been so blown away by TFFME. Or perhaps I'd have less of a need to own both.

I plan on buying TFFME in a couple of days - but for now Derby has earned my respect, admiration and fascination. EVERY MAN on Basenotes should smell Derby once.

Hi Mike - nice that you like this one too! You say vanilla, but I can't find that written anywhere - I got this composition:

Top notes: bergamot, lemon, artemisia, peppermint.
Middle notes: pimento, rose, pepper, mace, jasmin.
Base notes: leather, vetiver, sandalwood, patchouli, moss.

I suspect that maybe you take the sandalwood as the ambery scent?

What I really admire about this scent is that it's basically a fougère, but with a leather-chypre quality! Both gentle/delicate and sharp at the same time (you know, it's motto: 'Barbare et très civilisé')...

I own both new and vintage - and (don't hate me) I prefer the new one! It's beautifully made, more fresh and sparkling than the vintage. I think that age has taken off some of the top in my old bottles of Derby. Vintage has a more brown juice - which is NOT good on white shirts!

Normally Guerlain take 25€ for shipping and the bottle of 125 ml is 140€ (I guess they are still selling the last of their stock).

I love the vintage version. The newer release in the rectangular bottle has a note in it that smells like gasoline to me. It is definatly not as smooth as vintage.


Rick

The rectangular bottle - you mean the 'Eagle' bottle? That's the first vintage edition. Or maybe you mean the 'Travel' (the 'Habit Rouge') bottle?

Thanks MrGuerlain - yes, must be the sandalwood getting tricky with my nose. Lovely note.

At $240 US dollars (at todays exchange rate) a bottle - I'm not sure I can afford it right now, but one can wish...

The vintage version that I like comes in a brown pyramid shaped bottle with horizontal lines in it. I am unaware of what an Eagle bottle is. The one I don't care for is the one in the Habit Rouge style bottle. That is the one that seems to have a gasoline note in it. At least to my nose it does.


Hope that clears it up

Rick

Yeah, and ebay hasn't got any cheaper right now - though you can be lucky sometimes to find vintage Derby cheaper. This edition is nice though: http://cgi.ebay.com/DERBY-GUERLAIN-3...QQcmdZViewItem
They made Derby in the 'Travel' ('Habit Rouge') bottle for a short period - VERY rare! This 50 ml one from Germany is nice too: http://cgi.ebay.fr/Guerlain-Derby-Po...QQcmdZViewItem


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Yes, the 'Eagle' bottle is that 'pyramid' one: http://a125.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...659e8948ec.jpg You know, I love bottles - this is what I wrote about it on my Guerlain-site: Its original bottle is referred to as 'the eagle bottle' because of the inspiration from an eagle's outspread wings seen from above or below. The stopper imitates the eagle's head shape, giving the whole bottle an aggressive yet noble air, perfectly in tune with the scent and its motto: 'Barbare et très civilisé'.

this one here is sold for $200 (US seller), is it the vintage or new version?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DERBY-de-Guerl...QQcmdZViewItem

Vintage.

Seems I remember reading recently that either Bergdorff Goodman or Barney's New York were carrying Derby in their Guerlain Boutique at $200.00 for 100ml. Anyone remember this? Also, does Derby come in 50 ml?

I've yet to see a 50ml bottle,in any version.

I have seen a 30ml,though:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GUERLAIN-Derby...QQcmdZViewItem

I own the "Eagle bottle" version,dated to 1987.

A wonderful creation.

The Eagle bottle was also made in 50 ml - you can get it here: http://cgi.ebay.fr/Guerlain-Derby-Po...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks guys! I have a 2.5ml decant coming from The Perfumed Court this week (hopefully)and am really anxious to try this fragrance. Also getting decants of Jules and Yatagan!